This communal bank is called “Esperanza” and it has 18 entrepreneurs who carry out a variety of lines of work among which are clothes sales, running an Internet café (a public place with access to the Internet), bookstore, fast food production, pastry shop and clothes making, among others; all are from the city of Chillán.

Maribel is a member of the communal bank who is seated in the first row in the photo first from left to right; her hair is dark brown and she’s wearing brown pants. She runs a grocery and beverage shop. She comments that she’s had this business for the last five months. She works full time since she works from 8am until 10pm, Monday to Sunday. She must follow this schedule because there is no other store for 3 kilometers and customer demand is high, a situation she notes optimistically because she has no competition. She has recently also added baking and selling bread. She buys her merchandise in wholesale supermarkets and from snack distributors.

She will use the loan to buy an electric, refrigerated display case to store her products to increase clientele and thus her income. Her goals are to expand her store to start her activities cycle since she now only has a temporary sales permit. She will also buy a kneader to make bread making easier.

Maribel lives with her husband and two children who are 6 years and one year and seven months old. Her dream at a personal level is to obtain a house of her own since she currently lives in a borrowed house and lot.

She is very happy and grateful for the economic support Fondo Esperanza has granted her. Besides, she feels very comfortable in the meetings they have because she shares experiences with other merchant members and also learns new administration strategies.

Chillán is a commune in south-central Chile. Its name means “Seat of the Sun” in Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche indigenous peoples. Chillán is also known as the “Birthplace of the Nation” or “Land of Artists” because outstanding personages in Chile’s history were born here like the well-known pianist, Claudio Arrau, for example.

Additional Information

About Fondo Esperanza

Fondo Esperanza (FE) is a private non-profit organization that supports entrepreneurship by providing micro-credit and training to people living in poverty in well over 100 cities throughout Chile. By providing these services, FE aims to improve the living conditions of the entrepreneurs and their families. In 2010, FE provided loans to more than 41,000 entrepreneurs. It utilizes a communal banking model in which groups of 18 to 25 clients meet on regularly and guarantee each other’s loans. The members use their portion of the loan to create or expand their own businesses. In the group meetings, clients receive training though the FE Entrepreneurship School, which enhances clients’ personal and business skills and ability to work in groups.

This is a Group Loan

In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure, but groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee. In cases where there is a group guarantee, members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.

Kiva's Field Partners typically feature one borrower from a group. The loan description, sector, and other attributes for a group loan profile are determined by the featured borrower's loan. The other members of the group are not required to use their loans for the same purpose.